Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-12-25
Here and There.

Preece accidentally stuck needle IN her
hand which broke into three parts. Two .
of these parts were easily found and ex-
tracted, but tho third could not be To- /
Gated. The Hughes's induction balance /
plainly indicated that the piece of needle /
was there, but not its position. Mr.. /.
Preece highly magnetized fine needle .
and suspended it by single fibre OF silk. .
The deyiations Of the suspended needle .
always plainly indicated one particular
spot when the sore hand approached it. /
After o number of trials with the same
result this point was marked, an inclslon
made, and the third piece of the broken
needle four millimeters long was found
and easily extracted.
A strange fight was witnessed by a
crowd on Sixth avenue. New York, the
other day. AT an early hour a dirty
looking eat. that had once been white,
was slowly making its way along the
gutter watching for prey or garbage,
when suddenly sparrow flew down like
shot from a gun, ali9hted a moment
on pussy's head, made peck at It's eyes,
and retreated. Puss made a slight re-
sistauce, bat seemed dazed. Instantly
sparrows flew from all quarters and at
tackled the cat, generally about the eyes.
She or he defended we'll for awhile, but
finally succnmbed to numbers and rolled
over. The sparrows fought iierccly, and
ten Minutes later pUsS WIS dead. When
the sparows had witnessed the cats
dying kick they flew into the neighbor-
ing trees and held Il grand triumphal
chTping.
The records OF a Justice OF the peace
in Macon county, Mo-, contain an ac-
count of peculiar legal contest. From
the Justices docket it appears that a GER
tain bull came into the neighborhood Of
Richard Whitehead, q justice of the
peace in Hudson township. Although
an entire stranger in the community, It
appears that he cared nothing for his
reputation, and acted in such a dis
reputable manner that the farmers
upon whose pastures and upon whose
corn lie had riOted without license be-
came highly inCensed. Somuch aggrieyed
we're they that his majesty, the bull, WAS
chased intoa tobacco barn and there con-
fined until the proper steps could be
taken to dispose Of him. After nume-
rous consultations the justice finally
issued a summons and had all parties
served with a copy, including the bull
the summonsbeiug served on the latter
in the barn. Upon the day OF trial all
the parties to tn suit appeared except
the bnll, and all were represented by
counsel except the bull. The case was,
however, heard and judgment taken
against the bull by deiault for S2S and
costs. The Justice issued an execution
for this amount and the bull was sold.
The construction of another Alpine
tunnel through the Simplon, as a rival
of the successful st. Gothard, has for
some time been talked about in Paris.
1t is estimated that the Simplon tunnel
would shorten the time between Paris
and Central and Southern Italy by three
hours as compared with the ST. Gothard
line. and the gain over the Mont
Gents route would be still greater.
According to the representations
the length of the contemplated
tunnel would be about twelve miles,
and the whole work could lie accom-
plished in from four TO six years. 1t would
be the longest tunnel in the world, and
would require extraordinary provisions
for its suitable ventilation, though this OBJ
iect could be attained, it is believed, by
means of a horizontal air.shait above
the crown Of the tunnel and running It's
entire length, connecting by series of
vertical shafts with the atmosphere
above the mountain. Pumping-engines
would not only keep the air constantly
renewed, but would draw off the water
which otherwise would steadily accumu-
late in the tunnel. The cost of this
work is estimated at about SIC, 600, 900.
In an old church in Gothland. i'll Swe-
den, pile of lances is preserved. Each
OF the lances is fitted TO hold torch,
and it is said the weapons were used at
one time to give light and protection TO
marriage parties on the way to church,
the ceremony taking place at night. as IA
precaution against the bride being taken
away by some Lochinvar who claimed a
better right to her than the duly recog-
nized sutton. 4 recent writer, de-
scribing % marriage in Khurdistan,
says he saw a young man carrying
off his bride surrounded by q body
guard of some twenty or thirty
men. These men were supposed to be
protecting the happy couple from party
OF young women, who hurled pieces OF
earth and tamboos at the procession, and
made show of rescuing the bride. AS
soon, however, as the bridegroom reached
his own village with his charge the assaIl-
ants ran home screaming and laughiHg.
Among ourselves the term "best man
is said TO be survival Of the time when
the bridegroom had to get strong hands
to aid him in securing the object Of his
affections. There is probably also sur
vival of the assaults that were then made
on marriage parties IN the showers OF
rice and old slippers bestowed SO freely
on the newly welded.
Business people in Paris have long
since formed color speech by which
certain trades are easily recognized.
First Of all the color-shops are distin-